A make-or-break Chhattisgarh election for former Congress CM
Jagdalpur: Former chief minister Ajit Jogi cannot be ignored in Chhattisgarh, especially during elections.
And, this time, Jogi has floated his own Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and struck an alliance with Mayawati’s BSP and the CPI to consolidate essentially Schedule Caste and some tribal votes to become for the first time a third axis in the bipolar elections the state has faced till now.
On Wednesday, the party said the IAS-turned politician would contest from the Jogi pocket borough of Marwahi, making this election a make-or-break event for the former Congressman as the results would decide the fate of his politics. In the state’s 90 assembly constituencies, SC voters could swing prospects in 53.
The voter percentage of SCs, as per internal data compiled by the BJP, ranges from 10% to 30% in 59% of the assembly segments. There are 10 seats reserved for the SCs and nine of these are currently with the BJP. The SC population has 10% to 27% votes in 42 general constituencies and that is what the third front under Jogi is banking on.
The BJP believes that the triangular contest would help the party since it hopes the Jogi-led coalition would split votes of the opposition camp. Chief minster Raman Singh told ET in an interview that the Jogi-Mayawati alliance would cut into votes of both national parties, but the Congress would be hit more.
The coalition may damage the Congress more in Bhanupratapur, Konta and Dantewada seats in the first phase of polls due on November 12, said a leader of Jogi’s party.
The regional alliance does not have much clout in the 18 seats in the worst affected Naxal belt of Bastar and Rajnandagaon, which is Raman Singh’s home constituency. At the same time, it is relying on disgruntled BJP and Congress leaders and CPI candidates to pull off surprise in the poll. For instance, Jogi has fielded former BJP leader Sakni Chandraiya from Bijapur — a move intended to eat into the saffron vote base. BJP’s state minister Mahesh Gagda is the sitting MLA from there.
Tribal people dominate this region making all the seats but for Jagdalpur, reserved for the STs.
In an interview to ET, Jogi acknowledged that a combined opposition fight to check the BJP would have been an “ideal thing” but the “utopia” did not work for which he blamed Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
“The Congress led by RahulGandhi is overconfident that they do not need anybody and can win on their own. That is why it did not happen,” he said.
